Amidst Caliginosity
by KitsuneCagalli
Summary: In the darkness and comfort of space, amongst the debris and past battles and lifelessness, it's him she seeks out when he calls her. Random Oneshot. Post S2, AU afterwards. Fluff.


Back again! Wow, proud of myself xDDD I have to graciously thank _Jclark775_ for inspiring me back into this fandom. I don't even know if people still write for or check this fandom, but who cares? I still love this Gundam-verse and am so excited to write for it again! Anywho, I discovered I loath Awakening of the Trailblazer even more than before which is why this is post season 2 but AU afterwards. I just can't write properly for after AotT, because it's so . . . sad. And it represses Setsuna's social and emotional growth from Season 2 soooo freaking much :'( . (Hint hint: another story is in the works exactly about that, but it's incomplete because it's hard to immerse fluff and lovey doveyness into sad things :/ )

Enjoy this return to G00, however brief it may be (and sorry in advanced for my not tiptop shape writing, it's been a while xDDD) I love you guys and I hope it's adequate since I know it may be hard to live up to the strangely high standards of _Love and Harmony_ that you, my lovely readers and reviewers, have set xDD;;;;

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Gundam 00 or its characters, sad but true. I just write stuff about them :D

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**Amidst Caliginosity**

_By: KitsuneCagalli_

'_Feldt_.'

Blackness. It's the first feature a person recognizes when they arrive at this location, the pristine carbon-steel tiled room that exposes the landscape of space. The observation deck displayed nothing more than a darkness that was infinite, sacrosanct and lethal, but only if you failed to look. Beyond this, something that Feldt noticed as she leaned against the railing that ran the length of the window of this observatory, were a multitude of glimmering and glowing stars cast in a black sky that sometimes faintly colored itself with dust clouds or debris or Setsuna's wonderful light. At this moment, that was exactly what she was seeing as the 00 Raiser raced across the aerospace, streaking rays of green GN particles everywhere and tickling her senses. Soon, she'd clearly hear the voices of her fellow crew members in addition to the calling from her favorite Meister pilot, just as she had many times before while they were testing the furthest capacities of their trump card Gundam.

'_Feldt,_' her name was whispered again and she let her eyes follow the figures the Melee Gundam was creating. Being a routine procedure, where even Ms. Sumeragi had left them to their own devices, had Lasse and Mileina ushering her out in order to "take a break" to which she took the time to travel to this spot. She supposed that she had been working harder lately, but the pinkette certainly didn't understand why everyone was interpreting her extra efforts as exhaustive and excessive. She enjoyed pushing herself for the sake of her Ptolemy family and the only person who seemed to understand that was a certain raven haired pilot.

"_Synchronization rates holding steady at around 300%,_" a rustic voice called out louder now and Feldt heard Mileina's sweet voice respond in the affirmative. There was always something weird about being connected to her shipmates mentally through Setsuna's quantum field, even if it was for the briefest of moments. Besides the pair and Lasse running test results, there was Ian and Linda's thoughts, both worrying about different elements for whatever projects they were pursuing, and Lyle's indecisiveness about what he should eat for lunch as well as the newly revived Tieria's mental belittling of a few Celestial Being technicians who were repairing his Gundam insufficiently. There was no sound of Ms. Sumeragi's thoughts so the aqua eyed woman could only assume that her ship's captain was fast asleep in her room. These thoughts had resonated in her head for the shortest of times before the 00 Raiser vanished from her field of vision and the warmth at the edge of her brain began to fade away along with the others' thoughts. '_Feldt._'

'_I'm here._' Still the pink haired CIC operator continued to take in the view before her, the dimming light of the GN particles mingling into the colorlessness of space, focusing her thoughts on the events of the past year. They had had an overwhelming success in the battle against the Innovades, with rivalries bested and revenges delivered and the world united, but most of all the ascension of Setsuna as the first human Innovator. When they found his body floating away in the demolished Exia, reaching his hand out and mumbling about a flower, Allelujah had described to her the way his eyes were golden, much like his and Marie's, but with a certain gleam of iridescence that was classic of Innovades.

_Innovators_. The term was very precious for Celestial Being, because of the suffering they experienced but also the expansion of humanity's potential that was brought about with them. _Setsuna_. The first of the Innovators and a person of exceptional talents. It was because of this particular member of Celestial Being that the world was heading on the path of Innovation and peace. And it was also because of him that Feldt was changing into a different person than the one who started this journey as a girl of Celestial Being. She could never imagine being the way she was without his influence and shared experiences that happened deep in these recesses of space.

"What are you thinking about?" a voice breathed by her ear and Feldt jumped from shock into a body just behind her. Though the voice was familiar and the body a warmth she'd often felt, the surprise of his silent comings and goings always caught the tactical operator off guard.

"Setsuna," the young woman quietly replied, holding a hand to her beating chest as she half turned to see his face. Though her counterpart rarely smiled, there was a signal of one tugging at the corners of his lips as his piercing ruby eyes glued to her own while she blinked up at him in confusion. His free hand, the one not holding onto his helmet, pulled up to tuck a floating strand of hair behind her ear as she colored red from the contact, unable to form coherent words at their close proximity. The pinkette often wondered whether the Kurdish man understood the effects he had upon her with his mere presence. "I-I was just thinking about space."

"Were you?" he questioned, allowing the tugging to finally take over and genuinely smiled at her slight fib. His flight suit clad fingers moved from her ear to cup her cheek when she turned completely to face him and floundered in shock. His eyes, even without their Innovation were all-knowing, understanding that her thoughts were not solely focused on the beauty that was outerspace.

"You called me," she decided to candidly reply. He had been calling out to her through his quantum brainwaves, which is why she quietly conceded to taking her break and coming here in the first place. It wasn't the first time that his voice, ghostly and inside her head alone, called out to her during his sorties in his Gundam. And with the frequency of the occurrences, Feldt just assumed that it was Setsuna's personal calling card for her since communicating via the com system would attract questions and catcalls from their fellow Celestial Being members.

"I did." There was no embarrassment or confusion, simply acknowledgement that her statement was truth and those were his intentions. It was always an amazement how casually the 00 pilot dealt with accusatory statements and rebuttals.

"For?" she inquired, slightly befuddled that he still had his hand resting on her cheek, though not upset in the least. The methods in which this Meister expressed his affection, even the awkward expressions, were always cherished and coveted. There was a serious nod as the raven haired pilot pulled up the hand that was clutching his helmet and presented it to her. The CIC operator collected said helmet into her grasp before noting a glass case poking out. Reaching for the item, her features adjusted from embarrassed to shocked as she saw a delicate yellow flower, though slightly wilting, encased within the glass.

"Setsuna, this is . . .?" Her sentence was lost as she took in the flower with reverence. This was the flower she had given to him before their last battle with the Innovades, the one that carried her silent confessions and hope for his survival; the one that represented the important motivations and desires they both shared for the world; the one that was lost to space after their battle because of the heavy damage his Exia Repair II had taken almost a year ago. The pinkette couldn't comprehend its presence here and now, and she sought out his eyes to implore him for an explanation.

"It's your gift. The one I was searching for." Then it clicked. Feldt recalled Setsuna visiting her after his week long recovery in the medical pod to apologize for losing her special gift to him. At that time, the young woman couldn't understand why he was so attached to the item seeing as she was just happy to have had him returned to her safely and as unscathed as could be expected. But subsequent conversations with him had revealed that not only was it the only gift he'd ever received from anyone besides his Gundams, but it was an important reminder of her feelings for him. Although Feldt had initial thought that the Meister had merely accepted her feelings as nothing more than friendly concern, he revealed that his Innovation was developing to pick up emotions from others and he had understood her genuine affections for him. Their forming closeness from this knowledge was what matured into their current state: Feldt and Setsuna being in a relationship of sorts. From that time onward, whenever Setsuna was training or running tests with the crew, he would scour the airspace fruitlessly for her gift amongst the debris.

Forgetting all thoughts of being uncomfortable, she leaned her head forward onto his chest, ignoring the slight goosebumps caused from his suit armor's chilled surface as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. The subtle meaning behind his gesture was sweet and meant more to the pinkette than he could ever understand. Without prompting, the tanned man enclosed her within his arms discommodiously, the flower and his helmet between their forms. She felt his hands rubbing her arms repetitively, trying to garner her attention without words so she looked up at his intense eyes with a joy that negated her tears.

"Thank you Setsuna." He pulled one hand to brush under her eyes slowly, and nodded without reassurance. She knew that he hated her tears because he associated them with grievance and loss. The few times he'd seen her cry always dealt with tragic events, but she wanted to show him that this time, her tears were from happiness. "This means a lot to me. That you cared this much about my flower."

"Why wouldn't I care? You are one of my important people Feldt Grace and it was a gift," he stated in monotonous confusion, an emotion only those who knew him well could pick out. Nodding, she pulled away slightly to hand him his helmet and the flower as well as to compose herself. If there was one detail about Setsuna that was noteworthy, it was his loyalty and dedication to those he cherished. This was always a feeling she had difficulty reciprocating in their relationship because of her introverted nature, but she swore to battle that when it came to the raven haired pilot whom she loved. So when he took her proffered items back, she chose to surprise him with a mimicked action of his from earlier. She reached out to cup his cheek, warm and welcoming.

He again glanced at her in confusion, unsure for her action but Feldt was letting her solitary nature go for the sake of expressing her appreciation. Somehow, just by continuing to observe her though, the Innovator began to read her emotions and soon realized the meaning behind it. Reaching up to take her smaller hand within his own, he tugged her forward and used the lack of gravity to bring her into his embrace as he released his helmet into the air beside them. She anxiously tucked her hands between their chests to keep some semblance of space, though it was still socially scandalous. If anyone were to walk in on them, they'd have no excuse and no escape.

"S-Setsuna, you can't . . ." Feldt started to argue, face blossomed in red again and trying not to stare into his smoldering gaze.

"Why?" The Meister always questioned her aversion to their closeness outside of private locations, which in this situation was valid considering they were very much alone on the observation deck. The Kurdish man was unafraid of their intimacy, something that Feldt found at once charming and terrifying.

Because. If someone saw us . . ." the aqua eyed tactical operator began, unsure of how to phrase her flurry of thoughts.

"If someone saw us?" he prompted with a soft glance, truly curious to her explanation.

"It. . ." she tried once more, not confident herself why she was nervous being with him when her heart clearly reminded her that she loved him and shouldn't be. There was just something about public spaces and the potential sharing of their special bond that Feldt couldn't get settled, even if that was how couples demonstrated to the world their togetherness. "It would be embarrassing to explain. Not that I'm ashamed or anything!" she quickly countered, face a cherry red. "I just don't want anyone but us to know and see us together." A quick chuckle escaped him and in the instant when she was sure her face was going to burn itself crimson permanently, the overhead fluorescent lighting flickered off and engulfed the cuddling pair into darkness within the observation deck.

"_Attention Ptolemaios: Papa's running a power surge to the loading bay in order to test the GN drive storage collection from the 00, so don't fret the lights out and lock-down for a little while!_" Mileina's chirpy voice echoed out through the speaker system moments later. Feldt couldn't help but find immense humor in the situation as Setsuna squeezed her frame closer now to his own so there'd be no space between them.

"You were saying?" he humored in his husky tone, perfectly content at their proximity as his nose skidded the curve of her uniformed shoulder. The aqua eyed young woman experienced shivers throughout her system despite the fact that he wasn't even in contact with her skin. There was just no manner in which he didn't affect her and the feelings she had for him. Instead, she conceded to wrapping her captured arms around his neck and gracing him with a smile as he moved his head back up to watch her face.

"You win." Then, with the darkness as her blanket of safety, she kissed his waiting lips as soon as her eyes fell shut, the distant, glimmering stars the only small source of light.

:::::::::::{ Fin }:::::::::::

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I warned you all in the description. Fluff. xDDDDDDD


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